success & reward

Over the weekend I got some major projects done around the house… even with the disorder in the workshop and garage. Success!

I also took a big step and cleared out the piles of stuff in the workshop, on the workbench, and on the walls. This is the first step toward reclaiming the workshop from the flood of new stuff. Another success!!

Now, of course, the project isn’t done yet and I’m not finished with the challenge of minimaxing all the new stuff I’ve just acquired, but… and this is a big but… it is another step toward getting it done. It deserves a reward. I earned it!

There are good psychological reasons to do this. It’s not just an excuse to relax with a bubbly beverage (or two) and do nothing all evening – although that’s what it looks like. Our brain uses reward as motivation for learning new behavior. If you want to learn something new or just get something done, put a conscious reward out there for yourself and see what happens.

It doesn’t have to be a huge thing. Your brain doesn’t distinguish between a big reward and a small reward – at least as far as motivating behavior goes. It can be as simple as giving yourself permission to have a glass of wine after you clean up your bedroom.

motivation trick  

You can even fool yourself sometimes – kind of a bait and switch with yourself to keep the momentum going. It’s kind of like moving the goal further down the field as you approach it. In practice it’s delaying the reward you promised yourself until you get even more done…

The self talk goes like this: 

As you are getting started- “This bedroom needs to get organized. If I clean it up this afternoon I’ll reward myself with a glass of that new Chardonnay I bought last week.”

Doing the work- “This is a lot of work, but that glass of wine is going to be great. I wonder if I’ll like that new brand?”

Trick as the task is done- “OK, getting this bedroom cleaned up wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Maybe I’ll clean up the bathroom too!”

Momentum continues- “Ugh, the bathroom sure needed this. I can’t wait to have that wine now – maybe I can have a larger glass since I got so much done today? Hmmm.”

The reward- “Ahhhh. That feels great. Look at that bedroom AND the bathroom sure looks good too. I like this new brand after all – it sure tastes good sitting here in my clean house!”

The trick plays off the natural flow of your energy as you get into the swing of doing something. Have you ever noticed that when you get absorbed in a task it seems like time goes by faster? That’s called being in the zone or with the flow. You are so concentrated on the task at hand that you lose track of other things while you get it done. A great place to be!

If you can keep that flow going (your momentum) you can get a lot more done in less time because you already did the hardest part – getting started. That’s really the trick. Getting yourself started doing the task you’ve been putting off because you didn’t have the motivation to get it started.

But careful here though… use this trick too much and you’ll lose the power of the reward motivation method.

reward works

The thing is, if you trick yourself too often like this, your brain won’t believe you anymore! I guess it changes the old adage “Fool me once – shame on you, fool me twice – shame on me.” Your brain knows you better than you think! You need to follow through on the reward to achieve consistent success with this method.

So make your rewards appropriate to the task. A treat (like the glass of wine) may be just right for housecleaning on a Saturday afternoon, but may work against you if your task is to have a healthy low-cal breakfast to lose weight. (plus who wants a glass of wine with breakfast?)

You don’t want to break the bank with your reward either. Remember that your brain can’t tell the difference between a big and small reward. You just need to follow through and give yourself the reward – that will reinforce the habit of getting your tasks done and success.

Some ideas for ways to reward yourself that won’t break the bank, and won’t counter the other good progress you are making are:

And be sure to pause and enjoy the progress you’re making once in a while as you’re in the task. You can assess where you’re at, where you’re going, and how close you are to that reward!

small success

The progress I made on the garage and workshop may not look like much to outside eyes. In fact, someone else might look at the garage and think it’s in worse shape than before I started! But I know it’s a step along the way following my system to get things staged, organized, and in place where they can be used most effectively. Along the way I will reduce the stuff too – as I discover all the stuff that makes up the piles in the garage. 

For my reward it was watching a Marvel movie for the evening. I wanted to catch up on some of the superhero origins and this was my excuse to take the time. All it cost me was an evening in front of the TV – plus a glass of wine too… that was a bonus since I started on BOTH the workshop and garage today! 

When you get a big task done, take a break, sit back and look at what you can do when you apply your system. You got that done. You made progress. You are maximizing your stuff and your space.